Search form

What is ambient music and what did Brian Eno have to do with it?

From Wikipedia... on Ambient music
As an early 20th-century French composer, Erik Satie used such Dadaist-inspired explorations to create an early form of ambient/background music that he labeled "furniture music" (Musique d'ameublement). This he described as being the sort of music that could be played during a dinner to create a background atmosphere for that activity, rather than serving as the focus of attention.[19]

In his own words, Satie sought to create "a music...which will be part of the noises of the environment, will take them into consideration. I think of it as melodious, softening the noises of the knives and forks at dinner, not dominating them, not imposing itself. It would fill up those heavy silences that sometime fall between friends dining together. It would spare them the trouble of paying attention to their own banal remarks. And at the same time it would neutralize the street noises which so indiscreetly enter into the play of conversation. To make such music would be to respond to a need."[20][21]
---------- End of Wikipedia entry

In the 1960's Brian Eno would continue these explorations with Music for Airports. Today, we have the Sound Healing Symphony that can sell out Grace Cathedral with baths of Tibetan Bells and 1200 people in attendance (half of which are laying on yoga mats). In between, a new genre of music was create that is used to sooth, heal, relax and meditate or often composed for film to enhance emotional response.

Some people associate the genre called "New Age" with ambient music. Some associate synthesizer composers like Suzanne Ciani with both New Age and ambient music. Modern day composers like Philip Glass create repetitive patterns of music played by orchestral instruments to create a wash of sound.

We hope to bring more attention to hidden treasures of musical calmness at Blue Coast Music